Senior Brand Consultant

Employee

Marketing and Communication

We are seeking an experienced brand and marketing professional, with a strong track record in the maritime and/or renewable energy sectors, to join our growing brand and creative team.

Bringing deep industry expertise, global networks and the very best brand, PR & communications, digital marketing and research capabilities, we create compelling strategies that deliver.

We guide our clients in building powerful brands and reputations on a global scale, growing revenue, pioneering innovation, influencing policy and igniting meaningful transformation. Creating impact that makes good business.

Overview

A Senior Brand Consultant is the first point of contact for each of their clients, responsible for managing the Senior Account Manager, developing new business accounts and the day to day running of BLUE client accounts and driving the tactical implementation of brand discovery, brand strategy and creative development programmes to meet and exceed client expectations.

MAIN OBJECTIVES

Become the established main point of contact for the client on a day-to-day basis.
Manage multiple projects of varying scope and size, utilising their experience and intuition to prioritise effectively.
Manage and support the team in the prioritisation and delivery of key objectives.
Support every aspect of the brand development process, from brand discovery, including perception audits, research and interviews, to brand strategy, including the development of the core brand narrative, creative development and employee engagement strategies.
Monitor the delivery of activity against agreed programme KPIs and staff resource.
Combine brand, marketing and communications expertise with knowledge of the client and industry to help clients develop their brand and internal engagement strategies.
Develop new business opportunities, including preparation of presentations, writing proposals, pitching to clients and preparing service agreements and invoices.

Tasks

ACCOUNT MANAGEMENT

Develop and nurture close working relationships with client contacts. Act as the day to day “go to” contact and build strong relationships based on trust in the quality of judgement and the delivery of results.
Report to your line manager and support every aspect of the brand development process, from brand discovery to brand strategy, through to creative development and implementation.
Manage and support the Senior Account Manager in the prioritisation and delivery of key objectives.
Responsible for maintaining the highest standard of delivery in conducting and delivering:
Brand / perception audits
Competitor research
Facilitating workshops
Customer and employee insights through interviews and questionnaires
Analysis of questionnaire results
Brand narrative and strategy
Briefing the creative team and managing deliverables
Brand assets and implementation
Analyse and interpret data to make strategic recommendations, communicating complex ideas effectively.
Present views and opinions to the client regarding brand improvement in a professional and well organised manner
Develop and communicate creative briefs including brand narrative, visual and vocal identity guidelines and brand assets.
Project manage the delivery of inspiring brand communications campaigns, that deliver against each programme’s communications objectives.
Manage the delivery of work to clients by effectively working collaboratively with colleagues, utilising their resource in an efficient and effective manner and drafting in support and counsel from senior colleagues where required.
Deploy project management skills to ensure that deadlines are met by client teams at every level. Including managing ‘upwards’ as required to senior colleagues.
Demonstrate commercial awareness and the ability to effectively service the account to the agreed project fee, ensuring that agreed KPIs are met.
Push back where necessary and juggle competing priorities.
Proactively identify opportunities for clients and present these to the strategic lead on the account.
Spot and trouble shoot potential issues before they become problematic, keeping the strategic lead on the account aware of progress.
Be a ‘client expert’ within the business, demonstrating an in-depth knowledge of the organisation, its brand and business objectives.
Lead client meetings.

WRITING

Excellent command of the English language and the ability to write with strict adherence to the grammatical and journalistic rules.
Ensure the content and the tone of every document is in line with the client’s brand and strategic goals, in an appropriate format for its purpose and relevant to the target audience.
Quality of written work will ensure that - bar proofing - the majority of materials are almost ‘client ready’, requiring minimal input from the strategic lead on the account.

BLUE BUSINESS MANAGEMENT & DEVELOPMENT

Regularly spot commercial opportunities and share them with the Senior Team.
Where required by the Senior Team, develop new business opportunities, including preparation of presentations, writing proposals, pitching clients and preparing service agreements and invoices.
Weekly contribution to the (at)BLUECOMMS twitter feed and regular contributions to the BLUE LinkedIn page and website news.
Regular attendance at external networking events (at least once per quarter).
Confident engagement with other attendees and able to clearly communicate BLUE’s approach and USP’s.
Contribute contacts to BLUE database after attending events etc.
Invest time in building relationships with prospective clients.

BLUE COMPANY CULTURE

Act as custodians for BLUE’s working culture and ethos, setting the standard and nurturing the development of those standards in BLUE colleagues.
Invest the time in supporting BLUE’s internal training activities.

LINE MANAGEMENT

Oversee direct reports professional development at BLUE, including progress towards their Objectives and leading twice-yearly performance reviews:
Be a key part of colleagues inductions.
Meet with direct reports periodically - whenever helpful or necessary - for an informal catch-up on their progress.
Available to direct report whenever helpful, to listen, answer any questions and offer advice on any matter relating to their professional development and working life at BLUE.
In conjunction with BLUE's Senior Team, help to identify and provide any further support that direct reports may need, including external training, as well as ongoing feedback on direct reports performance.
Be available as a first port of call for any wider issues direct reports may need support with, alongside the People & Culture team.Manage direct reports expense claims, annual leave and unexpected absences.

Requirements

ESSENTIAL EXPERIENCE

This role requires a solid background within the shipping and maritime sector as well as good experience in the sections noted above. However, BLUE Communications recognise that you may not have experience of the broad responsibilities of the role. We would encourage you to apply for the role even if your experience to date does not fully match all of the areas listed above. However, we feel that the following experience is essential to succeed within this role:

Must have a solid knowledge of the maritime and shipping industry in order to take an advisory role for clients.
Strong research background, conducting interviews, questionnaires and researching topics in order to create well informed articles or provide informed advice to clients.
Strong experience of analysing results of research and providing evidence-based reports.
Experience of analysing and interpreting data to make strategic recommendations, communicating complex ideas effectively.
Proven experience in writing articles, press releases and other content to a high standard.
Commercially aware, spotting commercial opportunities for BLUE as well as being mindful of completing client projects on time and on budget.
Confidence in attending networking events.
Confident talking to colleagues and clients in the maritime and shipping industry at a peer level of industry knowledge.
Strong presentation and report writing skills.

BENEFICIAL EXPERIENCE

Previous experience of line management.
To have worked in a client facing position, managing multiple clients at one time.

Benefits

Personal Perks

25 days holiday per annum, plus additional accrual opportunities after two years’ service
Loyalty bonus scheme from 3 years of employment
Auto enrolment pension
New business commission scheme (9% of first year’s fee for new business introductions)
Rewards and perks through Perkbox - including discounts at national chains, access to health apps and wellness support
Cycle to Work Scheme

Office Life

Hybrid working – minimum of 8 x days per month in an office

Fairtrade tea and coffee, milks (including almond), and fruit